DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is the initial office action for US Patent Application No. 18189389 by Varni et al.
Claims 31-51 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Claim Objections
Claim 31 is objected to because of the following informalities:
A minor grammatical informality has been found in claim 31, Line 4: For the limitation “the carrier ions participating in an electrolytic processes”, it appears the word “processes” should be changed to “process”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 48 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 48 recites a method of battery unit formation that includes the limitation “and/or (c) controlling device during the battery unit formation”. The limitation is considered to be indefinite because it is unclear what is meant by “controlling device”. Also, the term “and/or” renders the claim indefinite because if the “or” option is claimed, it is unclear how step c alone is involved in manufacturing the device of claim 31.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 31-44 and 48-51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Busacca et al. (US 2020/00212493 A1), herein referred to as Busacca.
Regarding claim 31, Busacca teaches [0338] a device for forming a battery unit, the device comprising an auxiliary electrode configured to operatively couple with the battery unit to allow flow of carrier ions from the auxiliary electrode to a unit cell of the battery unit and the carrier ions participate in electrolytic processes in the unit cell.
Busacca further teaches (Figure 31B) auxiliary electrodes 686 can be provided as a replenishment source of carrier ions to replenish the electrode either before, during or after a charge or discharge cycle, or supplement carrier ions during battery formation. The auxiliary electrodes 686 can be electrically connected (coupled) to electrode structures of the battery unit and can be connected by a passive resistor or active circuit (electrical connector).
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Regarding claim 32, Busacca teaches [0607] the auxiliary electrode is configured [0607] for removal from coupling with the unit cell.
Regarding claim 33, Busacca teaches [0522] the device is configured to operatively couple with a compression members (compression fixture) for flow of the carrier ions from the auxiliary electrode to the unit cell of the battery unit.
Regarding claims 34 and 35, Busacca teaches (Figure 31B) the auxiliary electrode is configured to couple with at least one surface of the unit cell and the at least one surface is a major surface of the battery unit.
Regarding claim 36, Busacca teaches [0338] the auxiliary electrode is configured to simultaneously couple with opposing surfaces of the unit cell.
Regarding claim 37, Busacca teaches [0338 and 0416] coupling of the auxiliary electrode with the unit cell is at least in part by being operatively coupled with a constraint coupled with the unit cell, the constraint configured to facilitate flow of an electrolyte therethrough to allow flow of the carrier ions.
Regarding claim 38, Busacca teaches [0416] wherein the constraint comprises perforations configured to facilitate flow of an electrolyte therethrough to allow flow of the carrier ions.
Regarding claim 39, Busacca teaches [0539] the constraint comprises a metal, a plastic (polymer) or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 40, Busacca teaches [0543] wherein the battery unit cell may include anode active materials comprising silicon or silicon composites.
Regarding claim 41, Busacca teaches [0010] a stacked population of unit cells (battery unit comprises a plurality of unit cells similar to the unit cell) and the auxiliary electrode is configured to couple with at least one side of the battery unit.
Regarding claim 42, Busacca teaches [0117 and 0120] the battery unit comprises an electrolyte configured to carry the carrier ions from the auxiliary electrode to the unit cell, the electrolyte being a liquid electrolyte, formation of the battery unit comprising forming a solid electrolyte interphase in the unit cell at least in part by the carrier ions.
Regarding claim 43, Busacca teaches [0121] the battery unit comprises a plurality of unit cells similar to the unit cell, the unit cells being stacked along an axis, and the auxiliary electrode is configured to couple with at least one side of the battery unit and parallel to the axis.
Regarding claim 44, Busacca teaches [0062] the battery unit is a secondary battery.
Regarding claim 48, Busacca teaches [0142] a method of battery unit formation.
Regarding claim 49, Busacca teaches [0071 and 0338] an apparatus for battery unit formation, the apparatus comprising a current between the auxiliary electrodes (at least one controller operatively coupled with the device), the at least one controller being configured to control the battery unit and the at least one controller being coupled with a power source.
Regarding claim 50, Busacca teaches [0338 and 0345] a device for flowing carrier ions into a unit cell, the device comprising an enclosure sealing an auxiliary electrode and a battery unit from an external environment to the enclosure, the enclosure allowing electrical coupling between the auxiliary electrode and the battery unit in the external environment, the auxiliary electrode being configured to operatively couple with the battery unit to allow flow of carrier ions from the auxiliary electrode to a unit cell of the battery unit for forming the unit cell, the carrier ions participating in electrolytic processes in the unit cell.
Regarding claim 51, Busacca teaches [0338, 0522 and 0532] a device for flowing carrier ions into a battery unit, the device comprising compression members (compression fixture that includes a base, a compression plate set with a fixed and movable compression plate relative to the fixed compression plate). The battery unit is coupled with an auxiliary electrode to allow the flowing of the carrier ions from the auxiliary electrode to the battery unit and the compression members are configured to apply a compressive force to the battery unit and the auxiliary electrode.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 45 and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Busacca et al. (US 2020/00212493 A1), herein referred to as Busacca’493, in view of Busacca et al. (US 2020/00313146 A1), herein referred to as Busacca’146.
Busacca’493 teaches the device of claim 31, but does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claims 45 and 46. However, from the same field of technology, Busacca’146 recites an electrode assembly with auxiliary electrodes.
In view of claim 45, Busacca’146 teaches [0310-0312] the unit cell comprises an electrode and a counter-electrode, each of the electrode and/or of the counter-electrode having a length a width and a height, the length being from about 5 millimeters (mm) to about 500 mm, the width being from about 0.01 mm to about 2.5 mm, the height being from about 0.05 mm to about 10 mm, the battery unit comprising at least one unit.
In view of claim 46, Busacca’146 teaches [0314-0316] the unit cell comprises an electrode separated by a separator from a counter-electrode, each of the electrode and/or of the counter-electrode having a length a width and a height, a ratio of the length to each of the width and the height is at least 5:1, a ratio of the height to the width is at least 2:1, the separator may have a thickness of at least about 4 micrometers to about 50 micrometers, the battery unit comprising at least one unit cell.
At the time of the filing date of the pending application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device taught by Busacca’493 to include the specified electrode structures taught by Busacca’146 in order to provide an improved means of manufacturing batteries that have electrode assemblies with controlled alignment and with controlled expansion of the electrode assemblies during operation of the battery.
Claim 47 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Busacca et al. (US 2020/00212493 A1), herein referred to as Busacca, in view of An et al. (US 2019/0260064 A1), herein referred to as An.
Busacca teaches the device of claim 31, but does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 47. However, from the same field of technology, An recites an a method of manufacturing a battery and configuring an auxiliary electrode for charging of the battery.
In view of claim 47, An teaches [0089] a unit cell comprising an anode separated from a cathode, the anode having a loading of 1 milligram per centimeter squared (mg/cm2).
At the time of the filing date of the pending application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device taught by Busacca to include the specified loading of an anode taught by An in order to provide a battery electrode assembly with improved discharge performance when employed in a secondary battery.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724